devondynosoar118

A quick update- The layout is far from dead, although it has hibernated a year or two for various reasons.

I have been working on the controls, I now have working points in the yard, off my NCE Powercab, ready to get the mini panel working.

Here is the box I made with the routes and points all set. Still to add is the uncouplers and signal control. Uncouplers will be electromagnets fired by MOSFETS with only signal voltage in the switches and signals are undecided.

Boy racer carbon wrap was a result of having some left over from wrapping a lap top, I haven't seen anyone else use it so it should at least be unique!

Love the top depot pic! Really atmospheric.

Got a picture of the hand lamps.

Also a piece of loco coal from the Princetown branch, found after lots of walking! It was in the absolute middle of nowhere so must have dropped off the bunker on a bump etc.

1 engineering brick from Kingsbridge signal box, gifted to me by a kindly soul

1 BR rail chair, set of fishplates and bolts, also ex Kingsbridge line, found.

2 hand lamps, both from LNER/BR

1 crossing sign from the Kirby Stephen branch- Kelleth Cabin, found by my grandad when he bought the keepers cottage from BR after closure, helpfully folded in half by the wreckers and put in the shed.

1 BR bell codes card leaflet, from above crossing

GWR loco dept "checks" used to pay engine men.

GWR engine mans cap badge- presents from family.

Picture of cabin sign.

Vallejo make good acrylics, if you are doing black letters on white, I would undercoat in white primer, then use a print roller to apply an enamel black. You could possibly use Lino print ink.

Example of a miniature print roller- one slightly wider than your sign would get it in one go.

http://www.lawrence.co.uk/shop/Narrow_Rollers.html#.Vy-TydR4WrUj

The roller could possibly have other uses, I haven't experimented with them much in model painting!

The method I use is to spray the whole sign/lettering in the desired lettering colour, using a tinted primer if something other than white/black is required (Army Painter cans are good for this if you are not using a spray gun/airbrush.)

When it's thoroughly dry I then paint the background colour in acrylic. I let that dry then use a bit of 800 grit wet paper glued to a lolly pop stick to sand the lettering, with a little water on the sanding stick. This makes an incredibly sharp edge on the letters as it takes off the acrylic, revealing the base colour. It can also be used to simulate fading etc.

You have to be careful not to sand through the base colour, hence needing a stick on the sand paper.

The only difficulty can be black letters on a white background. It's harder to get a clean looking white over the black. I wondered about using a micro ink roller for black letters, with a thick paint instead of block printing ink.

The streamlined King isn't a train at all, its Doc Browns time machine!

Very smart facia! As someone who also had to work out marshalling etc, I would recommend both "Train shunting and marshalling for the modeller" and "Railway operation for the modeller" by Bob Essery, best bought from EBay as Amazon is very pricy for them by comparison. Both cover common freight and general practices right into the diesel era.

More lovely pictures! The little alley by the corner shop needs a photo of a street putting behind it to cheat the perspective. There are several good candidates in the real Kingsbridge that could be photographed if required.

Beautiful work and atmosphere as always though.

Hoping to see this in real at the members day on Sunday! Well done, the last minute always arrives faster than expected.

Thank you both very much for answering my questions. I saw a solenoid specific decoder for solenoids also from DCC concepts, I have also used the NCE ones on Squeezebelly very successfully. Currently none of the solenoids are powered by the bus (obviously) and I did the main wiring about 5 years ago and don't have a burning desire to revise it, I will have to price up the point decoders. Any recommendations?

I have numerous regulated power supplies to power the control side..

The panel will be no problem, I have nearly everything I need and I have all the responses from the last time I tried to grasp the particular nettle so I can get on with that.

Kris helped group my points for me so I am planning on setting the mini panel to do several points at a time, as there's only two platform faces and the run around loop, plus yard, all is which will be better set up with one button to set routes. I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

It seems that for NCE users the Alpha is completely unnecessary!

Having recently resurrected my NCE power cab and considering sorting out my control system for Kingsbridge once and for all, I saw this and thought it might offer a solution. I have one or two questions that I couldn't see fully answered in the rest if the thread.

I have 14 points to control, all wired with electro frog and Seep solenoids with switching. I got totally stuck trying to work out a control panel that I could wire, was logical and had a simple plug/unplug. I am not very bright, so wanted a solution that didn't involve a million wires.

My questions, in the light of that are-

1- What does the DCC concepts product offer me that the NCE mini panel doesn't?

2- Where do either of those products go, under the baseboard or in the control panel?

3- If they are in the control panel is it just a matter of running an RJ 11 lead of the correct pattern into the spare cab slot on the NCE board that you get with the powercab?

4- My layout is N guage, with a max of 2 locos moving at any time, will I need a booster?

I should also echo other people's thoughts on the information available from the manufacturer, I found it hard to read and not particularly enlightening. Can't seem to fault the quality of the actual item and it's great they are now in the UK.

Absolutely fabulous Alan.You portray the South Hams splendidly.It makes me wish the Kingsbridge branch was still with us.

Exquisite pictures as usual, thank you!

Patricroft 1967

 

PL369 by The Plastic Mac, on Flickr

My back garden, 2013 (N!)

Weathered from the photos on this thread, thanks chaps!

A good opportunity to have a sighting board or painted bit on the bridge for that signal?

Embankment and bridge both look pretty storming from here!

The Fat Slags go HST !!

 

gan away fuu mi bait, man !!

 

Brit 15

How about " Buster Voyager and his un feasibly small vestibules"

Anyone fancy writing a modern version? Perhaps in VIZ?

Just a thank you to all posters, to say how wonderfully evocative the pictures are for those of us who missed main line steam and are lapping up the atmosphere!

.  .  .  .  and you haven't changed one little bit  .  .  .  .

(insert smiley thing here)

LOL, Not mentally anyway. Nowadays if I sport that get up people think I am in an AC/DC tribute band!

Count yourselves lucky, I had to wear this lot in the early 80's!

Never mind shed bunking, getting home alive was an achievement, and in true 50's style the shorts were itchy wool and had to be worn even in winter.

Personally, I think that a balanced solution is derived from a balanced argument.

Of course there are good points and bad points in every scheme, but I don't think that a forum for railway-minded people (even the tiny train-minded like me) is going to represent a balanced view of the true facts of the case!

 

PS: For those around Plymouth and West Devon, there's a series of meetings in the Tavistock area this week to let the populous know of the intentions for the new rail link to Tavistock. Hardly HS2, but it affects me more

Lets call it TS2!

This country desperately needs infrastructure investment if the rest of us who don't live in the South East are to have any chance of equal growth and those who do live in the SE are to stand a chance of staying out of a green belt swallowing megalopolis!

Very nice work- I like the tonal variation in the scatter on the fields, beautifully observed.

Wow, to all of it!

Andy C / Steve, are these the correct chimney pots? They look a lot closer to me than the ones in the photo on the previous stage.

 

If they are, Freestone can do me a bulk lot at a discounted price and as they are only down the road, I can nip round to get them.

 

Dude, nice pot(s)....

Like the cobbles too but there were less punning opportunities.

See you there!